Saturday, 30 June 2012

But the next campaign for better public health is in a different league. Alcohol and obesity – what we eat and how much we drink – these are the stuff of our very souls. From warning of the public implications of personal actions to changing the actions themselves, The campaigners have to cross a boundary more contentious than any they have overcome before. They have to tackle problems linked with poverty without swelling the populist clamour against the poor. They have to frame a debate about the health implications of overeating and problem drinking that doesn't dwell only on a cost-benefit analysis on behalf of the NHS.

That's an editorial from a paper that was once the true liberal paper, a paper that helped, 150-odd years ago to campaign against the corn laws. It is now, simply an authoritarian newspaper. Not only interested in taking more of people's wealth, but also nannying their personal choices.